| Review by gregs1104 January 30, 2010 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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| The regular CD of this album sounds terrible, so if you like it this hybrid version is a huge step up. As for the stereo SACD, the mastering definitely leans toward a "pop" sort of sound though. It's still pretty compressed, especially by SACD standards, and the result is quite aggressively in your face--not with an extended treble or anything, just throwing the seriously forward mix right at you. I feel that's appropriate for the music and the way the album was intended to sound, but am unsurprised that some people are disappointed. It's really not taking advantage of the SACD format; I find myself listening to it on a regular CD player most of the time and not feeling like I'm missing anything.
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| Review by marshman February 20, 2013
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Invisible Touch saw Genesis reach the peak of their success, although this was as a result (in my view) of taking a more pop approach to the music, and who can blame them.
Of the performance and music itself, there is a lot more use of electric drums than on the previous album. Whilst 1983's self titled Genesis album did make use of drum machines, loops and electric drums, their use seemed more subtle compared to Invisible Touch's in your face synth drum sounds. A fact aptly highlighted in the DVD documentary, which shows Chester Thompson messing around on an electric kit with headphones on, so all the viewer can hear is what sounds like someone bashing on a toy drum kit. Whatever your views on such things, as a result of the general sound of the album it was hugely successful at the time. However it could be argued that it hasn't aged as well as some of their other (earlier) material, and to me it's clearly showing it's colours as a child of the 80's.
So musically, it was and still is a great album, albeit showing it's 80's pedigree, and the standard of musicianship and production are sky high.
After really enjoying the SACD of 1983's Genesis album I was really looking forward to an even cleaner and crisper sound. And I suppose that is exactly what I got, although I found the clenliness unsatisfying, lacking the depth and oomph of the previous album.
There is some good stuff, Tonight Tonight Tonight has some standout moments as does Domino, but I cringed when I heard Anything She Does, with it's tinny, high pitched brass forcing me to reach for the down volume button. The whole album is just a tad lacking in bass and depth, a symptom of a pop sound I know, but the previous and following albums don't seem suffer this fate.
The 5.1 mix is, like the other Genesis albums, done with class, creating an enveloping soundfield without being gimicky. No complaints with the surround style.
So it's probably as good a version of Invisible Touch as you're likely to get, given that it's how the album was recorded and mixed in the studio, and there's no doubt it deserves a place in your Genesis SACD collection. I just might find myself reaching for Genesis, Abacab or even We Can't Dance before this one.
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